Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid and airfield in nighttime airstrike, Ukraine destroys most of the targets

On the night of June 14, Russia carried out another airstrike on Ukraine, using missiles of various types and Russian-Iranian disposable Shahed attack drones.

Commenting to Liga, Illia Yevlash, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said the Russian targets were the same as in the previous attack and included energy and military facilities. He said many missiles and drones were aimed at Starokostiantyniv in Khmelnytskyi region.

Russia frequently attacks Starokostiantyniv, where one of the Ukrainian air force bases is located.

The Air Force spokesman noted that the attack began at about 23:00 on June 13, when the Russian army launched the Shaheds over Ukrainian regions. Later, at about 03:00, when almost all drones had been eliminated by the air defense forces, Russia launched missiles. After shooting down most of the air targets, the Ukrainian defense forces launched a MiG-31K aircraft and a Kinzhal hypersonic missile over Khmelnytskyi Oblast, which, however, failed to reach its target.

According to Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Air Force, the Russians used 31 air attack weapons, including 14 air- and land-based missiles and 17 attack drones. Of these, Ukraine’s air defenses shot down seven missiles and all of the drones.

According to Oleshchuk, the airstrike included the following weapons:

• 10 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles fired by Tu-95MS strategic aircraft in Russia’s Saratov Oblast, with Ukraine shooting down seven of them;
• 3 Iskander-M ballistic missiles fired from occupied Crimea and the Russian Krasnodar region;
• 1 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ballistic missile launched from Tambov Oblast, Russia;
• 17 Shahed-131/136 combat drones launched from Yeisk, Russia – all of these drones were reportedly shot down.

According to the commander, 24 of the 31 air targets were destroyed in the Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Zaporizhia, Dnipro and Kirovohrad regions.

Three Iskander missiles targeted Zaporizhia district, but regional administration head Ivan Fedorov said the missiles hit an open area and there were no reports of injuries or damage.

During the night air raid, the Polish armed forces alerted jets and claimed:another tense night for the entire Polish air defense system due to the activity of the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation.”

In addition, several explosions were heard in Kharkiv at around 9:00 a.m. and air defense systems were active in Kyiv at around 10:15 a.m.

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